Pale Demon (The Hollows #9)(40)
Author: Kim Harrison

"We’ll find him," Ivy said, the amulet getting dark as she set it aside to fold up the map.

Silent, I scanned the distant horizon for cops, my senses stretching as I took in every nuance of light and shadow. Jenks was out there somewhere. My stomach clenched. This shouldn’t have happened. He didn’t need me to watch him, but this altitude thing had caught us all by surprise. I should have made him take that curse.

Ivy shook the map out with a rattle. "Trent, jiggle Vivian. Ask her what her name is."

"My name is Vivian," the irate witch grumbled, clearly awake. "And if you touch me, Kalamack, I’ll turn your hair pink. I do not have a concussion! Leave me alone and let me sleep!" In a huff, she repositioned herself in the corner, her feet kicking the back of my seat as she shook out my mom’s shabby car blanket and rearranged it over her head.

"I think she’s fine," Trent said sourly as he looked out at the changing nothing.

The car was full of unhappy people heading west. It was the Great American Family Road Trip, all right. Whaaa-hoo!

I sniffed, my stomach hurting from too much stress and not enough food. I was upset, but it was hard not to see the scenery and call it beautiful. It was nothing but dirt and rock, but it looked clean, pure, the angles and gullies standing out in the strong sun. I could tell that Trent was hot with the window open and the air-conditioning going full bore, but I was comfortable. He’d have to suck it up.

"That’s our exit," Ivy said suddenly, and I slowed, not wanting to take it at ninety miles an hour. Trent sighed again, and I tapped the brake to shake him up.

"It’s a state park," I said, seeing the faded PETRIFIED FOREST sign. "Maybe this is where they’re heading."

"The Petrified Forest?" Trent said, sounding interested. "I read about this place."

Ivy leaned forward. "Everyone who’s been to school has read about this place."

"I’ve never been here," Trent said, his words clipped as he tried to hide his interest. "It’s not the kind of thing that-"

"They let you do, huh?" I finished for him, pissed for some reason. I’m chasing down my partner from kidnappers, and Trent’s more interested in chunks of rock?

Ivy handed the map to him over the seat. "Now’s your chance, Johnny Boy Scout," she said, apparently not needing it anymore. "We’re going right through it."

My heart gave a thump before settling into a faster pace. There was a park-ranger hut straddling the road. Crap. "Vivian? Are you going to give us any trouble? Tell me now."

"Just let me sleep," she grumbled. "Let me sleep, and I’ll sign a paper that you’re a f**king angel."

"I didn’t know they let coven members talk like that," Trent said dryly, probably trying to cover his curiosity, but he was leaning forward, wanting to see more.

"Fuck you, Kalamack," the usually posh woman shot back.

Oh yeah. We were all having fun now.

Ivy shrugged, so I pulled up and rolled my window completely down.

"Hi. Can we have a day pass?" I asked after reading the rates painted on the brown sign.

"That will be five fifty," the weathered woman said, and Trent shoved some money at me over the seat.

"Let me get you a receipt," she said, ducking inside her window to hit a few buttons. "Are you camping?" she said as she leaned back out and handed me a receipt stapled to a brochure. "We don’t suggest it this time of year. And you’ll need to take a class before you can get your camp permit. If you’re not prepared, the desert can be deadly. The class just takes twenty minutes."

Twenty minutes to preserve your life? I thought. Is that all? "We’ve got lots of water."

Seeing Trent’s eager hand on the seat, at my shoulder, I handed him the brochure, and he settled back like a kid with a new toy.

"It’s not just the water, it’s the heat and elevation," the ranger said, her gaze on Vivian. "Is she okay?"

The bar ahead of us was still down, and I took a deep breath.

"Too much partying," Trent said over the crackle of new paper, surprising me. "She’s not even going to get out of the car."

The ranger smiled, and the bar rose. "The gift shop is up on the right. If you change your mind about the class, they start every half hour."

"Thanks," I said, wanting to floor it, but she hadn’t given me our sticker yet.

"Well, enjoy the park. There’s a large group of Weres out at the hotel for a company retreat, but other than that, all the exhibits are open."

Finally the little yellow sticker was stuck to the inside of my window, and I exhaled, turning it into something I could blame on the heat instead of relief. "Thanks! Bye now!"

Waving, the woman went back into her air-conditioned hut, and I crept forward at the posted forty miles an hour. After blowing down the interstate at ninety, it felt like I was crawling. I started to fidget.

"It says here the average person needs a gallon of water per day," Trent said, reading from the brochure. "How much do we have?"

"None." I eyed the empty water bottles in the cup holders. "It’s twenty miles to any road. I think we’ll be okay."

"All I’m saying is if we have to walk, we don’t have any water."

Ivy glanced at him. "You’re not walking anywhere. You’re staying in the car."

From the lump of blanket came an irate, "I’m trying to sleep! Will you shut up!"

Ivy settled back, and I said nothing, dividing my attention between the unmoving dot of Jenks on the amulet, the winding road, and the shocking views of sharp-angled ravines and colors that were like nothing I’d ever seen before. We passed pull-off after pull-off, Trent rolling his window down, sucking the cooler air out of the car, the flat of his arms on the frame to get a look at the admittedly spectacular views. It wasn’t until we found flat desert again that he sank back into his seat. As expected, we crossed under the overpass and headed south.

"Think we’ll get to the place in time?" I asked, my mood vacillating wildly between relief and impatience as I hit the gas.

"Lots of time," Ivy said, fingering the amulet. "They aren’t moving anymore."

"He can’t fly. Not at this altitude." Damn it, I was babbling.

"He’s wearing his red," Ivy said, pointing out the sign for the auto tour. It went into the desert, and Trent perked up, his gaze going up and down as he traced our path on his brochure. "They might have taken him because he collapsed. Maybe they were trying to help."

"Yeah, and that’s why they were swearing at us when we caught up with them," I said. Double damn, what if I found him, only to find that the size difference prevented me from doing anything? The curse in my bag was for making little things big, not the other way around.